[MikeM]

Hurricane Wilma brought gusty winds and rain to Orlando today, but no damage worth mentioning and, happily, no power outage. (Wish the same was true for our kichi friends to the south!) But, now we have a cold front moving in ... the front that kept Wilma far south of us. The temperatures have been in the upper 80sF to low 90sF, with nights in the 70s. Pond temps are in the upper 70s, bordering on 80F. Tonight it will be going down to upper 40s, with daytime highs in mid and low 60s tomorrow. The sudden shift could cause a drastic drop in water temperature. To minimize that, I toyed with the idea of turning off the Bakki Shower for a day or two, but decided instead to go ahead with the "winterizing" I've had in mind ... wrapping the unit in plastic to reduce (but not eliminate)the chilling of the water coming through the shower. This may impede the gas exchange function of the unit somewhat. However, I've left the bottom edge of the plastic hanging loose on the back side of the unit (less exposure to wind gusts since it backs up to a fence). I think this will provide some air movement for gas exchange while containing the warmth released by the water shower. The plastic is polyethelyne used to cover greenhouses in this area. Duct tape was used to hold the wrapping together. Then the groundcloth I drape over it to keep leaves, etc. out of the media was put back in place.

This is likely not a good aqpproach in areas with "real" winters, so folks in colder climes will need to take a different approach. ... In a few days we will likely return to normal weather in the 80sF, and then the plastic will be removed. If this works, it is how I'll "winterize" the Bakki when December-January brings the risk of frosts.